Police Standoff Ends With Arrest of Burglary Suspect

—By Bay City News Service

An hours-long police standoff involving a suspected burglar who attacked three officers near San Jose City College this morning ended when the suspect was taken into custody early this afternoon, a police spokesman said.

Around 8:30 a.m., three San Jose police officers responded to calls about a man near Menker and Kingman avenues who residents believed had committed recent burglaries in the neighborhood, police spokesman Officer Albert Morales said.

When the officers located him in the laundry room of an apartment complex and attempted to talk to him, he attacked them, Morales said.

The suspect tried to take an officer's Taser gun and ended up taking his baton during a struggle, Morales said.

The other officers then struck the suspect with batons, and the suspect dropped the stolen baton before fleeing on foot to the apartment of an acquaintance in the 600 block of Richmond Avenue nearby, according to Morales.

He barricaded himself inside the empty apartment for several hours, police said.

All residents were evacuated from the building, and there were no hostages in the unit he was in, Morales said.

A police SWAT team surrounded the building, and police shot rubber bullets through the apartment window, shattering the glass, police said.

Eventually, the man tried to exit the apartment on a bicycle. When he started riding the bike on the sidewalk near the complex, police released K-9 units that bit him, allowing officers to detain him.

He was finally taken into custody around 12:15 p.m., Morales said.

"You can say the K-9s safely made the arrest," he said.

The man suffered minor injuries and was taken to a hospital in an ambulance around 12:30 p.m.

The man, whose name has not been released, is in his 30s and from San Jose, police said. He was found with stolen property on him, Morales said.

The man was arrested on suspicion of burglary, possession of stolen property and assault on a police officer.

Nancy Mendez, 19, who lives across the street from where the standoff happened, said neighbors believed the suspect had recently been breaking into cars in the area and stealing stereos.

When she woke up this morning and heard all the police activity, she said, "I felt pretty nervous." Residents were allowed back into the evacuated building around 12:45 p.m.

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